Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Issues Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) issued its earnings results on Monday. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.72, Zacks reports. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 17.91%.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Sierra Bancorp stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $30.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,105. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.14 million, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.92. Sierra Bancorp has a 1-year low of $17.69 and a 1-year high of $35.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.24.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is 38.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BSRR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total transaction of $144,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 313,370 shares in the company, valued at $9,081,462.60. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Albert L. Berra sold 2,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total value of $81,889.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 150,063 shares in the company, valued at $4,838,031.12. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,056 shares of company stock worth $244,741. 11.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.